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eggwardsFirst off, a very Happy Birthday to Eric (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ericdabear)
Now let's finish this story... (I have to say i forgot to mention Alex's (darke) appearance on Saturday at the shuttle stop. he was going to attend that day, but the concert was sold out and he had to go back home)
We were awaken by the hotel's automated wakeup call at 10. Sneaking downstairs I saw that Matty (mattycub) and Jeff (jeffbear63) were still in bed, and ran back up the stairs, knowing that Chris (oakleycub) in the creaky shower would wake them. I grabbed some of the chips and last of the sprite brought by Will the night before.
Checkout time was noon, so I packed everything away, and because I had decided once again to wear the kilt, I put some shorts to the top of the suitcase so I could change after the festival. With my Hershey Bears Hockey T-Shirt and the kilt, I was pretty obvious. Maybe I was just looking for attention. Who knows. We worked on getting everyone up, cleaned and packed so we could take off. Matty's deflated tire, changed by Sean (schnitz_mi) and his brother the other day, was still in Matty's trunk. Owen (murphy) and Sean put Matty's deflated tire on the back of the car, so the trunk was ready for their stuff. Once Sean took care of the bill, we took off.
Somewhere along the line we had decided not to grab lunch, instead getting to the festival site early so we could eat there and catch Calexico. No one told Scott (xkot) who was in his own truck, following us, so we got a call from him. Once everything was explained, we were good to go. We ended up in parking lot Q again (the parking lot for queers!), and since we had arrived earlier than we had other days, the line for the shuttle was actually short. There were a lot of shuttle busses, and you could tell which drivers were local and which weren't by the routes they took throughout the city. Some got you there faster than others. This one was pretty good. Sometime on the trip over, I noticed a sign with information about what was illegal on a city bus (strangely, tax-free commerce wasn't one of these). I felt like testing the vulgarity part of the code, threatening to ass-fuck someone. Sadly, none of our group seems offended by this.
The sun again was baking us from on high. We got lunch, and I tried to eat light, but Berryhill tamales are so good. I knew we just needed to set up base camp and I needed to sit and digest...so we got to the stage for Calexico, and dropped everything. We had plenty of water today, thanks to Will who had brought several bottles with him the night before. We had frozen those bottles, so they were nice and cold. The guys at the gate also allowed us in with more than the prescribed two bottles, so we were really set for the day.
Calexico came on, and their rock-mariachi-story telling set started slowly. Kevin (sonoranbear) told me about the group during my last trip to Austin, so I knew a little of what this Tucson-based band was all about. They started to really shine about the time Matty and Owen decided to leave to set up camp for the Roots. Still, i like the sound of a trumpet and stayed with some of the others at this stage. We weren't disappointed as the energy increased with each song.
We tromped off to find the others at the roots, with our chairs in tow. They had set up in the middle of the field, and the band was already on. i unfortunately missed their use of Chicago's 25 or 5 to 4 in their opening number, but I was still intrigued that they were using live instruments, not taped samples for their sets. The moved from one song to another non-stop. they are the rap version of a jamband. I'm guessing like most jambands, the live performance is better than the CD's. still, it was a surprise, and another performance I wasn't sure of turned out to be a hit.
We decided to settle in around this stage, where a majority of acts people wanted to see would be. We moved off to the side where a shady spot was and waited for the next act. People came and went from base camp, but I mostly stayed in place, and started baking. I had put on sunscreen earlier, but I guess I should have re-applied, since my arms were really turning red. I didn't, and that would cost me later that night when the dark red sunburn really hurt. I didn't notice that my head was also getting it's share, but the arms were the biggest complainers. Sean and Owen opened up the package from the tax-free commerce the night before, and Jeff had to leave to catch his flight, so we said our goodbyes and Matty walked him out to the taxistand. We mellowed out as the next act came on.
Jack johnson is the surfer turned musician, and it was a surprise when Perry Farrel came out to introduce him. The Jane's Addiction singer was very far away, but you can't mistake the squeaky voice. I want to say that Jack came on and rocked the house, but if you've heard him, you know that's just not possible. If Calexico was right in starting slowly on a Sunday afternoon, building up to the Roots, then Johnson was wrong for dropping the energy at midday. Chris fell asleep in the chair, and I think Sean was more entertained by the clouds and looking up from the ground cover sheets at my kilt.
To get re-energized, people headed off to see the Drive By Truckers while I watched over base camp, oh, and Sean, who was still sprawled out on the ground...gigling. People came back for Wilco, but Chris and I had already decided to go see Pat Green on another stage, so after a couple of Wilco's songs, where as expected they were playing newer, more deconstructionist stuff, Chris and I told everyone goodbye for we wouldn't be back to this stage. The rest of the gang were staying for Ben Harper later that night. Chris and I wanted to see Cake, and then we would leave. We didn' have much interest in staying for Harper's set, which would end around 10, and then have to drive back to Dallas.
We crossed the field to find Pat Green playing to a smaller crowd, and noticed that the crowd for Cake was already growing. I sat down, and yep, the suck stage was in fine form, as the sound just wasn't that great. Pat Green also talked to damn much, making his set go long, about the only performer I saw do that. Chris was hungry, and couldn't fight the crowds earlier, so he ran off for food, by the time he returned, he had eaten two hot dogs and some cheese fries. Luckily I got to finish the cheese fries. We decided to snub the rest of Green's set and get into the crowd for Cake.
Cake was at the smaller stage next to where Green was playing. we were already really far from the stage, about the same distance as we were for Franz Ferdinand on Friday. This time we weren't at the back of the crowd, we were in the middle of it. Apparently they had totally misjudged the appeal of the band. Once Green had finally finished, cake came on, and since they don't come at you with blazing guitars, the sound was quite anemic, and the crowd was soaking it all up. the crowd was upset that they couldn't hear the band and was chanting to have them turn it up. From the experience on Friday, we knew that wasn't possible. The sun had gone down, and I looked at Chris and he looked at me and we kind of knew that it wasn't going to get better. I finally said, "look, half of this crowd will go to see Ben Harper, half will go home. We might as well get on the shuttle now. So we folded up our chairs, and swam our way through the crowd, who were still showing their displeasure with the sound. They should have flipped Green and Cake to more appropriate stages.
The line was there, but it kept moving, I could hear Cake better there than from where we were. Soon we were back at the parking garage. The kilt had gotten more notices, or at least more people had actually commented to me than had on Friday. Still, most who noticed were women...I think guys are scared of the kilt! certainly they are to scared to be seen as a homo if the ask about you, your skirt, and what's under it. In the garage I slipped on some underwear under the kilt, and in a great move I twirled like Linda Carter to remove the garment. Luckily they Wonder woman outfit didn't magically appear. After donning some shorts, we were off, heading north on 35. We got gas, ate dinner, and made it back to Dallas around 1 am.
Matty called us the next afternoon. They got in around 3am, and had Sean take a cab to make his 9am flight back to Detroit. We got up, and chris showed me the game Fable for the XBox. His character finally was able to attract a male suitor and have gay sex - all on XBox! Owen was leaving later that evening, so Chris and I got lunch and met Owen, Matty and Skye (cristalskye) and her boyfriend Clint at Starbucks. later that evening we went to pick up Joey from Skye's place, where I think she was sad to leave, having spent the weekend with Skye's dog, Max.
Chris had to get up early on Tuesday and go to work. I got up a little later to go to a doctor's appointment. It's difficult having a doctor in a city that isn't where you leave. Still, I believe in this guy, so it's a good thing. He's worried about my weight gain this year, and frankly, so am I, and I don't quite know what to do about it just yet. I also had lunch with my sister Laura, who seems to be having trouble with changes at work for her. I hit Zeus comics and talked with Richard (dedagda) for a while, before returning to Chris' house to play with joey, pack and wait for Chris to get home. We had dinner, and then parted ays, him for the TCC rehearsal, me to head back to Houston
A long weekend, now long over, and things are back to the normal grind. It was a good time with good people, and I did get to spend a little time with each person, just getting to talk. It was nice, and great to spend more time with Chris. I don't think we'll see something like that again anytime soon...well, maybe next year.
ericdabear)Now let's finish this story... (I have to say i forgot to mention Alex's (
darke) appearance on Saturday at the shuttle stop. he was going to attend that day, but the concert was sold out and he had to go back home)We were awaken by the hotel's automated wakeup call at 10. Sneaking downstairs I saw that Matty (
mattycub) and Jeff (jeffbear63) were still in bed, and ran back up the stairs, knowing that Chris (oakleycub) in the creaky shower would wake them. I grabbed some of the chips and last of the sprite brought by Will the night before.Checkout time was noon, so I packed everything away, and because I had decided once again to wear the kilt, I put some shorts to the top of the suitcase so I could change after the festival. With my Hershey Bears Hockey T-Shirt and the kilt, I was pretty obvious. Maybe I was just looking for attention. Who knows. We worked on getting everyone up, cleaned and packed so we could take off. Matty's deflated tire, changed by Sean (
schnitz_mi) and his brother the other day, was still in Matty's trunk. Owen (murphy) and Sean put Matty's deflated tire on the back of the car, so the trunk was ready for their stuff. Once Sean took care of the bill, we took off.Somewhere along the line we had decided not to grab lunch, instead getting to the festival site early so we could eat there and catch Calexico. No one told Scott (
xkot) who was in his own truck, following us, so we got a call from him. Once everything was explained, we were good to go. We ended up in parking lot Q again (the parking lot for queers!), and since we had arrived earlier than we had other days, the line for the shuttle was actually short. There were a lot of shuttle busses, and you could tell which drivers were local and which weren't by the routes they took throughout the city. Some got you there faster than others. This one was pretty good. Sometime on the trip over, I noticed a sign with information about what was illegal on a city bus (strangely, tax-free commerce wasn't one of these). I felt like testing the vulgarity part of the code, threatening to ass-fuck someone. Sadly, none of our group seems offended by this.The sun again was baking us from on high. We got lunch, and I tried to eat light, but Berryhill tamales are so good. I knew we just needed to set up base camp and I needed to sit and digest...so we got to the stage for Calexico, and dropped everything. We had plenty of water today, thanks to Will who had brought several bottles with him the night before. We had frozen those bottles, so they were nice and cold. The guys at the gate also allowed us in with more than the prescribed two bottles, so we were really set for the day.
Calexico came on, and their rock-mariachi-story telling set started slowly. Kevin (
sonoranbear) told me about the group during my last trip to Austin, so I knew a little of what this Tucson-based band was all about. They started to really shine about the time Matty and Owen decided to leave to set up camp for the Roots. Still, i like the sound of a trumpet and stayed with some of the others at this stage. We weren't disappointed as the energy increased with each song.We tromped off to find the others at the roots, with our chairs in tow. They had set up in the middle of the field, and the band was already on. i unfortunately missed their use of Chicago's 25 or 5 to 4 in their opening number, but I was still intrigued that they were using live instruments, not taped samples for their sets. The moved from one song to another non-stop. they are the rap version of a jamband. I'm guessing like most jambands, the live performance is better than the CD's. still, it was a surprise, and another performance I wasn't sure of turned out to be a hit.
We decided to settle in around this stage, where a majority of acts people wanted to see would be. We moved off to the side where a shady spot was and waited for the next act. People came and went from base camp, but I mostly stayed in place, and started baking. I had put on sunscreen earlier, but I guess I should have re-applied, since my arms were really turning red. I didn't, and that would cost me later that night when the dark red sunburn really hurt. I didn't notice that my head was also getting it's share, but the arms were the biggest complainers. Sean and Owen opened up the package from the tax-free commerce the night before, and Jeff had to leave to catch his flight, so we said our goodbyes and Matty walked him out to the taxistand. We mellowed out as the next act came on.
Jack johnson is the surfer turned musician, and it was a surprise when Perry Farrel came out to introduce him. The Jane's Addiction singer was very far away, but you can't mistake the squeaky voice. I want to say that Jack came on and rocked the house, but if you've heard him, you know that's just not possible. If Calexico was right in starting slowly on a Sunday afternoon, building up to the Roots, then Johnson was wrong for dropping the energy at midday. Chris fell asleep in the chair, and I think Sean was more entertained by the clouds and looking up from the ground cover sheets at my kilt.
To get re-energized, people headed off to see the Drive By Truckers while I watched over base camp, oh, and Sean, who was still sprawled out on the ground...gigling. People came back for Wilco, but Chris and I had already decided to go see Pat Green on another stage, so after a couple of Wilco's songs, where as expected they were playing newer, more deconstructionist stuff, Chris and I told everyone goodbye for we wouldn't be back to this stage. The rest of the gang were staying for Ben Harper later that night. Chris and I wanted to see Cake, and then we would leave. We didn' have much interest in staying for Harper's set, which would end around 10, and then have to drive back to Dallas.
We crossed the field to find Pat Green playing to a smaller crowd, and noticed that the crowd for Cake was already growing. I sat down, and yep, the suck stage was in fine form, as the sound just wasn't that great. Pat Green also talked to damn much, making his set go long, about the only performer I saw do that. Chris was hungry, and couldn't fight the crowds earlier, so he ran off for food, by the time he returned, he had eaten two hot dogs and some cheese fries. Luckily I got to finish the cheese fries. We decided to snub the rest of Green's set and get into the crowd for Cake.
Cake was at the smaller stage next to where Green was playing. we were already really far from the stage, about the same distance as we were for Franz Ferdinand on Friday. This time we weren't at the back of the crowd, we were in the middle of it. Apparently they had totally misjudged the appeal of the band. Once Green had finally finished, cake came on, and since they don't come at you with blazing guitars, the sound was quite anemic, and the crowd was soaking it all up. the crowd was upset that they couldn't hear the band and was chanting to have them turn it up. From the experience on Friday, we knew that wasn't possible. The sun had gone down, and I looked at Chris and he looked at me and we kind of knew that it wasn't going to get better. I finally said, "look, half of this crowd will go to see Ben Harper, half will go home. We might as well get on the shuttle now. So we folded up our chairs, and swam our way through the crowd, who were still showing their displeasure with the sound. They should have flipped Green and Cake to more appropriate stages.
The line was there, but it kept moving, I could hear Cake better there than from where we were. Soon we were back at the parking garage. The kilt had gotten more notices, or at least more people had actually commented to me than had on Friday. Still, most who noticed were women...I think guys are scared of the kilt! certainly they are to scared to be seen as a homo if the ask about you, your skirt, and what's under it. In the garage I slipped on some underwear under the kilt, and in a great move I twirled like Linda Carter to remove the garment. Luckily they Wonder woman outfit didn't magically appear. After donning some shorts, we were off, heading north on 35. We got gas, ate dinner, and made it back to Dallas around 1 am.
Matty called us the next afternoon. They got in around 3am, and had Sean take a cab to make his 9am flight back to Detroit. We got up, and chris showed me the game Fable for the XBox. His character finally was able to attract a male suitor and have gay sex - all on XBox! Owen was leaving later that evening, so Chris and I got lunch and met Owen, Matty and Skye (
cristalskye) and her boyfriend Clint at Starbucks. later that evening we went to pick up Joey from Skye's place, where I think she was sad to leave, having spent the weekend with Skye's dog, Max.Chris had to get up early on Tuesday and go to work. I got up a little later to go to a doctor's appointment. It's difficult having a doctor in a city that isn't where you leave. Still, I believe in this guy, so it's a good thing. He's worried about my weight gain this year, and frankly, so am I, and I don't quite know what to do about it just yet. I also had lunch with my sister Laura, who seems to be having trouble with changes at work for her. I hit Zeus comics and talked with Richard (
dedagda) for a while, before returning to Chris' house to play with joey, pack and wait for Chris to get home. We had dinner, and then parted ays, him for the TCC rehearsal, me to head back to HoustonA long weekend, now long over, and things are back to the normal grind. It was a good time with good people, and I did get to spend a little time with each person, just getting to talk. It was nice, and great to spend more time with Chris. I don't think we'll see something like that again anytime soon...well, maybe next year.
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Date: 2004-09-25 07:10 pm (UTC)I love you new user icon. Makes you look like a whole new bad-ass bear mofo... but then I saw
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